Californian prosecutors have launched lawsuits over Toyota’s defective motor vehicles.

Toyota is being sued on the basis it allegedly sold hundreds of thousands of vehicles that it knew had defects in the acceleration and braking systems.

Regulators have linked five deaths to crashes in Toyota cars and are still investigating others.

Prosecution offices in different parts of California will allege that Toyota knowingly sold cars and trucks with defects that caused the vehicles to accelerate suddenly and uncontrollably.

There are several dozens of cases against Toyota that could cost the company billions of dollars.

Toyota's US headquarters are in California.